February 2010

West Seattle Little League will be holding a final in-person registration on Tuesday, Feb 23rd from 6-9pm in the West Seattle High School Library. Registration forms and information can be found at http://www.westseattlelittleleague.com.

All registrations that are mailed in must be postmarked by Feb. 23rd, 2010.
http://www.westseattlelittleleague.com/

About West Seattle Little League
Since its beginning in 1958, West Seattle Little League has been dedicated to building character, courage and loyalty in local area youth by providing a fun, safe, and competitive baseball program.

WSLL provides an opportunity for West Seattle youth between the ages of 5 and 18, boys and girls, to participate in one of America’s oldest and most esteemed youth league organizations. Every child is guaranteed playing time in every game.

All children ages 5 –18 are encouraged to join West Seattle. They offer teams in the following divisions:

T-Ball Ages 5 - 6

(AA) Coach Pitch Ages 6 - 8

(AAA) Minors Ages 8 - 10

Majors Ages 10 - 12

Juniors Ages 13 - 14

Seniors * Ages 15 - 16

Big League * Ages 16 - 18

* Season Starts 2nd Week of May

Music Northwest Jazz Concert
South Seattle Community College Campus
Olympic Recital Hall
6000 16th Ave. S.W.
206-764-5300

Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m. A unique event of innovative jazz influenced by Hungarian composer, Gyorgi Ligeti, featuring the brilliant Josh Deutsch Septet. Tickets and Directions: Box office 206-937-2899 or HYPERLINK "http://www.musicnorthwest.org" www.musicnorthwest.org; $12-$18; free student tickets, but must be ordered in advance. Free parking.

West Coast Swing Dancing
White Center Eagles
10452 15th Ave. S.W.
206-248-1400

Every Wednesday, 7:30 - 10:30 p.m.
Live Music by Darrell Data. Public welcome - $5 cover.

“SINGING FOR OUR SUPPER”

A Fundraiser/Concert with proceeds to the Senior Center
of West Seattle
(SCWS)

FRIDAY, FEBURARY 26th 2010

Featured Performer: LIL’ REV (check him out at www.lilrev.com)

6:00 Food service

7:00 p.m. Lil’Rev Show/Concert
Cost: $15, Kids under 12, $10

Includes Bowl of Hearty Soup, Crusty Bread, Dessert & SHOW,
Spirits extra

Reservations: (needed) 206-932-4044 (SCWS)
Location: Senior Center of West Seattle

Three Tree Point and Lake Burien residents packed Mick Kelly’s Irish Pub on Saturday afternoon to discuss the Burien Shoreline Master Program.

The City of Burien is the middle of updating their Shoreline Master Program, which is the properties along the shore what the City Master Plan is to the rest of the City.

Although the process has been going on for over a year, many residents who will be affected by the new regulations just found out about the process barely a month ago. Nearly 200 people came to the last Burien Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 9. Many of them said this meeting was the first they had heard about the Shoreline Master Plan being updated.

On Saturday almost 50 people came to a community meeting at Mick Kelly’s to discuss their concerns and plan course of action. Their biggest focus was making sure the Planning Committee received input from the residents most affected from it.

Dave Douglas, a permit coordinator for Waterfront Construction gave a presentation about his experience with Shoreline Master Programs and answered questions about Burien’s proposed Shoreline Master Program, providing an outside perspective.

Art

Burien Art Gallery-"Page Turner: Contemporary Artist Books." March 5 - March 21. Free. http://contemporaryartistbooks.blogspot.com/ Regular hours, Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun., noon- 4 p.m. 421 S.W. 146th St. 206-244-7808. www.burienarts.org.

Evergreen Fine Art Gallery-Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. 17700 1st Ave. S., Normandy Park.

Loren Gallery-1,200 sq.-ft. unique art gallery. Next to Marina Inn Hotel. 22300 7th Ave S., Suite B, Des Moines. Local artist will have hangings and varied art pieces. Art walk reception will be held every 3rd Saturday of month. LorenGallery.com. 253-223-7015.

Vino Bello Wine Bar-636-F S.W. 152nd St. Burien. For information, 206-244-VINO.

Auditions

ChoralSounds Northwest-- Spring Concert, "Red, White & Musicals,' with special guest KIRO radio host Dave Ross. Auditions are by appointment now through Feb. 28. Persons ages 18+ interested in auditioning may contact Choral Sounds Northwest at 206-246-6040 to schedule. More Information, http://www.nwassociatedarts.org/csn/aboutchorus.asp. Membership dues for singers are $55 for the quarter. Scholarships are available.

Dance

I knew Tom Stewart-- for one day.

Most of us had an image of the man who ruled Vashon Island at his huge farm called Misty Isle. He operated an empire of thousands of employees supplying millions of dollars of edibles to countless restaurants and grocers.

He had an image of a dictatorial king who usually got what he wanted, but stumbled at least once when the city of Seattle refused to allow him to fly his helicopter from his farm over West Seattle to his headquarters on Delridge Way.

The Herald reflected what most citizens felt. No way, Hosay. Looking back, it was probably wrong.

He was man who was not used to losing what he went after and died trying when his helicopter crashed.

He was a generous man to his friends and a major benefactor to South Seattle, our community college.

He spent a huge sum every July 4th putting on a magnificent fireworks show for islanders and Tacoma citizens.

I had never met him till a few years ago I was asked to play golf with him at Rainier Golf Club by his good friend Pete von Reichbauer.

E. B. Foote Winery announces the "Step into Spring and Stamp Out Alzheimer's Disease" weekend March 18 - 21. Ten percent of all sales during the event will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association in memory of Rich Higginbotham, co-owner/winemaker who died of the disease in 2008.

Envelopes will also be available so visitors can make a donation directly to the Alzheimer's Association.

To further honor Rich, his wife Sherrill Miller has made a special wine called "Remembrance" and she donates 50 percent of the purchase price to the Alzheimer's Association for a particular research project being headed by Dr. Brian Kraemer.

Remembrance is a 2007 vintage blend of 60 percent Cabernet, 30 percent Merlot and 10 percent Cabernet Franc. The grapes come from three different Columbia Valley vineyards, including Milbrandt, Graves and Arianses.

When all of this wine is sold, more than $100,000 will be raised for research on Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's Disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and a new case of Alzheimer's is diagnosed every 70 seconds. More than 5.3 million people have Alzheimer's and that number continues to grow.

A bill that would allow the Port of Seattle to continue to lease land to a Highline-area Little League organization at a steeply discounted rate has been filed in the state House of Representatives.

Sponsored by Rep. Dave Upthegrove (D - Des Moines), the measure authorizes "airport operators" to make airport property available for public recreation and other community uses at less than market value.

"I grew up playing Highline Little League baseball on these exact ball fields," Upthegrove said. "Today, south county children continue this tradition only because of the extremely affordable lease rates the Port extends to the Little League organization. A substantial hike in the lease rates could put the future of these fields at risk."

The ball fields in question are located in the second runway "buyout area" near SeaTac Airport, a neighborhood dotted with boarded-up residences.

If you need to use the restroom at Burien parks during winter months, you may need to hold it until you get home.

Due to budget cuts, the Burien parks department closed down the restrooms of four parks in the area - Seahurst, Lake Burien, Jacob Ambaum and Chelsea - during the four-month period of November to February.

Steve Roemer, the city's parks operations manager, said the city has saved about $6,000 from the winter closure.

The closure was significant for Seahurst Park because the public restroom there had just opened in December of 2008. Roemer didn't have the exact figures available, but he estimated it cost around $700,000 to construct. He said that was a typical cost for building a restroom.

Roemer also said the city expects to make the closure a normal policy in order to save money and that complaints from the community were minimal.

He said during the closure, only one concern had been raised.

"Probably 95 percent of visitors are in (the parks) the other eight months that we chose not to do that closure," he said.

"But it didn't help that we had a mild winter," he added. "There were more people down there than we had anticipated."

When "Page Turner: Contemporary Artist Books" exhibit opens on March 5 at the Burien Arts Gallery, visitors will experience "poetry, surprise, fury and wit" in the time-honored visual form of the handmade artist book.

The exhibit features original work from 22 artists whose work has been shown in galleries throughout the United States and internationally.

Artist, educator and exhibit curator Kelda Martensen also noted that the artists featured are bringing a fresh look to this time-honored visual form.

People "will be both delighted and surprised," she said of the innovative exhibit. "Each artist book sets the viewer on a creative journey.

Visitors will find themselves in the stirring position of interpreter to a powerful conversation between artist and page as images and narrative unfold."

The exhibit will include original works from nationally known artists such as Ken Botnick, Diana Guerrero-Maciá and Regin Igloria, to emerging artists such as Chandler O'Leary, Carrie Iverson, Rachel Dennis, Mandolin Brassaw, Nicolette Ross, Molly Brooks, Lloyd McMullen and Neil Clark.

It's no secret that the economic times we live in now are tough. The struggle on the economy has trickled down into school systems and has brought a new price for some student athletes at public schools across the country.

That price is "pay to play."

School districts in Washington state and all over the U.S. have begun to experiment with these programs, which ask student athletes and their families to pay a fee to play sports.

Highline Public Schools added pay to play for the 2009-10 school year and the foreseeable future. The program charges both middle school and high school students to play sports.

In comparison to some districts that have instituted similar programs across the country, Highline's fees are relatively cheap.

High school athletes are charged $50 per sport, but only $25 if the student qualifies for free or reduced lunch. The fees are charged for a
maximum of two sports, a student who plays three sports in a year is not charged for the third sport.

There is also a maximum charge of $175 per family for those who have more than one student athlete. That fee is reduced to $85 for families who have kids that qualify for reduced lunch.